Economic stress, political polarization and health care access are shaping the political perceptions of Latinos in Colorado, according to a new statewide report released Wednesday.

One-third of respondents in the latest Colorado Latino Agenda said their financial situation worsened over the past year. The fifth annual report, which surveys the state’s Latino community on pressing policy and social issues, highlights mounting economic anxieties and shifting views on politics and immigration.

The statewide public research initiative is co-led by Voces Unidas de las Montañas and the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights.

For the fifth year in a row, the Colorado Latino Policy Agenda report was dominated by concerns over economic issues and affordability. The survey’s sample size of 1,700 respondents — made up of 1,245 Latino registered voters and 455 non-voters — echoed that, by and large, their needs had not changed much since 2021. 

When identifying the most important issues facing the Latino community, the same three economic concerns ranked at the top for both federal and state priorities: improving wages and income, addressing the rising cost of living and inflation, and lowering health care costs.

At the state level, roughly 36% of respondents said improving wages and income should be the priority for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and members of the state legislature. The same issue was ranked second-highest at the federal level for the second consecutive year, which comes at a time when the cost of living in many parts of the state continues to outpace income levels.

In terms of what respondents indicated they hope the current president and his administration will address, concerns surrounding rising inflation and cost of living reached the top spot, with 33% of respondents identifying it as a priority.

“This marks the fourth year in a row where addressing the rising cost of living and inflation is the number one issue at the federal level,” Gabe Sanchez, vice president of research at BSP Research, said during a webinar discussion of the results. “So (that) just screams that Latinos unfortunately need more policy reform, more resources to address really challenging economic time periods for this population.”

Priorities vary only slightly when separated by region. Latinos in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District were most likely to prioritize improving wages and income at 40%, with the Denver-Metro area leading among regions of the state at 36%. Latinos on the Western Slope and in the broader Western region, however, were most likely to prioritize the rising cost of living at 37%.

Economic issues being “top of mind” for most Latino voters supports the survey finding that one-third of Latinos said their financial situation has gotten worse in the last 12 months. One-third said their financial situation has remained the same, and the final third said their financial situation has at least somewhat improved. 

“Unfortunately, every single year we ask this item, roughly a third of the Latino community has continued to lose ground financially and indicated things have gotten worse,” Sanchez said. “I think that sends a strong message that Latinos overall might want to see more done to address these financial concerns.”

Other highly-voted federal priorities include addressing gun violence, increasing access to mental health care and reducing government spending. At the state level, concerns more closely follow issues of affordability, with Colorado Latinos saying they want to see the governor and legislature address the creation of affordable and attainable housing and homelessness.

A growing political divide

Overall, surveyed Latinos indicated having a more favorable view of Democrats than Republicans in both the state legislature and in Congress. Approval ratings for Democrats range between 58-61%, while favorability for Republicans ranges from 40-41%. Approval ratings among Latinos for President Donald Trump sit at 41%.

The majority of respondents (53%) said they felt the United States is moving in the wrong direction, while roughly the same percentage said Democrat-controlled Colorado and its counties are moving in the right direction.

Yet, 50% of the respondents who said they felt the country was moving in the right direction credited Trump and his administration for the positive changes, while others credited former President Joe Biden and other Democrats in Congress.

With a greater 66% of “wrong direction” respondents also blaming Trump, it’s clear the majority of Latinos perceive the president to be the most responsible for the direction of the country.

“The take-home message is obviously that President Trump is a very polarizing political entity,” Sanchez said.

He added that, because economic issues ranked so highly among Latinos in terms of political priorities, the Trump administration’s handling of the economy in the coming year could be the biggest determining factor for a “rebound back towards Democrats.”

“When you look at the underlying data, it’s pretty clear that they don’t feel as though things are getting better as it pertains to the transition to the Trump administration,” Sanchez said. “If they don’t see positive movement on inflation, cost of goods, that’s going to be positive in terms of a potential rebound slightly for Democrats.”

Immigration retakes center stage

The issue of protecting immigrant rights was the highest-ranked non-economic priority at the federal level in this year’s survey responses, with 20% of  Latinos identifying immigration reform as one of their top priorities. Another 8% said they prioritized increasing border security and limiting immigration to the country.

“The importance of protecting the rights of immigrants is likely driven by the shift in deportation policy by the Trump administration, including mass deportations in Colorado and across the country,” according to the report.

Approximately half of Latinos in Colorado say they do not trust that state agencies will not share their personal information with ICE (53%) or that local police will not collaborate or share data with ICE (54%). An even greater majority — 84% — agree that law enforcement officers operating in the state should always identify themselves, wear body cameras and drive clearly marked cars.

“They want folks to be treated with respect, and they think it’s just obvious that it should be a transparent process,” Sanchez said.

However, the survey also suggests that Latinos in Colorado are more open to border enforcement than they have been in the past.

While the majority opposes any collaboration between local officials and ICE for the goal of increased deportations, 34% of Latinos said they would approve of local elected officials volunteering Medicaid data about undocumented immigration to federal immigration enforcement officers. A greater 39% said they would be supportive of local officials sharing data on the whereabouts of migrant children, even though both are illegal in the state of Colorado.

Sanchez credits this transition to the worsening of economic struggles for many in the state, which the Trump administration has largely blamed on illegal immigration.

“Again, it’s about the economy,” he said. “I feel as though the Trump campaign’s messaging …  emphasized essentially immigrants as being the scapegoat for everything from cost of living, lack of affordable housing, anything pertaining to the economy not doing great. I think there was some evidence that Latinos were starting to buy into (those claims) a little bit.”

As border enforcement and mass deportation efforts ramp up, however, Sanchez said many Latinos might experience a “sobering effect” deriving from the way federal immigration agents are treating Latinos who are not immigrants themselves.

Medicaid cuts and affordable health care

Roughly 9% of Latinos in Colorado report not having health insurance — up from 7% in 2024 — which jumps up to 15% for respondents not registered to vote and those making less than $40,000 annually. Of the total respondents, 34% indicated being on Medicaid, while 77% have private insurance.

Trump’s recently passed “big, beautiful bill” contains heavy revisions to the federal tax code and safety net systems, including reducing Medicaid spending by roughly $1 trillion through 2034. Colorado health officials are still working out how to mitigate the loss of coverage and avoid extreme cuts to Medicaid.

“A growing concern by all states, especially those that have a large segment of their population covered (by) Medicaid, is what might happen if the projected decrease in federal funding for Medicaid starts to hit the states,” Sanchez said. “And unfortunately, all health care experts, including myself, indicate a large segment of Latinos in Colorado, as well as in other states across the country, will be in jeopardy of losing access to health insurance.”

Around 40% of Latinos in the state would not be able to afford the out-of-pocket costs of life-saving medication without health insurance coverage. Another 40% said they would delay, or altogether skip, medical visits if they lost coverage.

When people aren’t able to afford the care they need, “they end up in the emergency room with a large bill that the state has to cover,” according to Sanchez. “We should all be concerned with this projected dynamic because it won’t only be problematic for individual families, but it will put strains on the entire system.”

“About 250,000 Coloradans will be potentially cut (from Medicaid) from the congressional actions earlier this month,” Dusti Gurule, president and CEO of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, said on Wednesday. “I think given that (Thursday) is the start of our special session here in Colorado, there’s still some potential harmful impacts that we’re monitoring — not just on Medicaid, but also other safety net programs.”

Gurule said the impacts could be even worse for Latinos living in more rural areas of the state, thanks to the existing gap in health care providers.

“That’s why I think it’s important and timely that we have this data, to show lawmakers and to hold their feet to the fire to ensure that they’re taking into account the impacts, not just based on numbers, but these are actual people and families that are going to be impacted by these cuts,” Gurule said.

Along with the data released Wednesday, the publication of the full Colorado Latino Policy Agenda 2025 report is planned for late September.